


A Broken Homecoming

by Altman



Series: Legacies And Lies [2]
Category: Thrilling Intent (Web Series)
Genre: And blame Sab for making him write the thing that made me write this thing, Blame Van for giving me the idea about song lyrics as chapter titles, Multi, Sadness incoming
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-27 06:12:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8390323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Altman/pseuds/Altman
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple job.Storm the castle, stop a crazy wizard from unleashing forces beyond his control, and (hopefully) get paid. Simple.But there’s always something... Like a bolt of magic released at the wrong moment, catching a certain Teifling off guard.Ten years later, the legacies and lies he left behind begin to unravel.





	1. If you’re ever in need of a hero…

**Author's Note:**

> OH GODS I'M SORRY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Shrouded Isles, ten(ish) years later.

Ashe walked through the forest, alone. You’d think that after almost ten years, she’d be used to visiting Markus’ memorial. But it still hurt. It hurt less, hurt differently, but the pain was still there.  
She knew she wasn’t the same either. For one thing, her long, white hair was tied back in a ponytail that reached the small of her back. A stylised ‘M’ was tattooed on her wrist, the same one they all bore; ‘M’ for ‘Markus’, ‘M’ for ‘Maybe’, ‘M’ for ‘Mourning’.  
  
She paused at the edge of the clearing. Her cloak, black and edged with stylised green lighting, and a bright green inner lining, fluttered slightly in the breeze. It was her tribute to Markus, a fashion choice she thought he’d be proud of.  
Walking up to the monolithic piece of obsidian, she placed a hand against its cool surface and gave a small smile. The words, “ _In memory of Markus Velafi, beloved by many, the brightest flame in the night sky, and definitely a better writer than that fuckwit, Ballast Mcgee_.”, were etched on to it in a flowing script.  
Inien had contributed that last part, a fitting epitaph that had caused the first bit of laughter in the months following his passing.  
“Hey, Markus. It’s me, Ashe. I would have been here sooner, but Vale had a nightmare and took forever to go back to sleep. Thog promised to take care of breakfast, so I don’t have to hurry back.” She said aloud. They had all found ways to cope with the void in their lives, and Ashe found that coming here to ‘talk’ with him helped the most.  


She’d come out here once a week, at least when she wasn’t away on a job, and bring him up to speed. “It’ll be ten years since you… left next week. We’re gonna have a little gathering, in your memory. I realise that you’d probably want a festival, but Bigcity already has one of those for you. Zeke and the other guild leaders will coming.” She sighed “They can’t stay long.”  
“I, uh, got a Message from Colvin yesterday, and he, Firi, Narn, and Verne got leave from the Outriders, so they’ll be here. As for Gregor, well, things are still complicated with him. Your loss hit him the hardest.” She continued “He misses you. We all do, but it’s different for him. You were his first friend. And without you here… He wants to make you proud, I know he does. It’s just… He’s taken the motto of the Conga Line too far. ‘Absolute Peace, through Violence’.”

“I know you wouldn’t like what he’s doing. Conquering kingdoms, forcing people to follow him, using the bodies of the dead from either side to fight for his cause. But it’s working. And maybe that justifies it. You’d know what to do. I wish you were here. Thog does to, but he still wouldn’t say it out loud. He isn’t great in the whole ‘verbalize emotions’ department. But he still has your glasses, you know. From that trial.” She could feel the tears welling up, like they always did.  


She shook her head. “That’s enough depressing stuff. I’m here to tell you what’s going on, not to complain… Let’s see. Oh! Tannhauser and Kyr built a working catapult last week. Inien was pretty mad that Kyr helped him do something that dangerous without telling her first.” Ashe let out a low chuckle.  
“Dont has started teaching Vale to bake, and is adamant that the day she lets a Fiore set foot in her kitchen will be the day cats fly. She was kidding, I think. Maybe.” Ashe took a seat with her back to the memorial, leaning against it, “She likes Tann, for the most part…”  
She rested her head against the dark stone, “I’ve got some other news, as well. I- Well, I guess I wanted you to be the first to hear it.” Ashe pressed a hand to the stone, and took a deep breath in.

Before she could continue, a fragment of a far off song reached her ears: “… _Markus Velafi, I come from the stars. That fuzzy part right between Venus and Mars. Let me just-_ ”.  
She was up and running towards the sound before she fully knew what was going on. As she got closer, she heard a voice other than the singer speak. It was gibberish that she hadn’t heard in almost a decade.  
“Glisbum iahig vereawe!”  
“Yes, I’m sure waiting a week is the right choice. Dramatics and all that.”  
“Wgeagdaf agkhidsu seadad judseret?”  
“Why would they be mad? I’ll be back, better than ever! What’s not to like?”  
  
Ashe burst from the woods, hands clenched into fists, chest heaving. “How about the fact that we already buried you!”

_ End of Chapter 1 _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M STILL SORRY


	2. A spectre from a time now past

The figure was sitting in front of a small campfire, surround by small forms of various colours.  
“Oh. Hey there, Ashe. Long-time no see. Nice cape you’ve got there…” the blue-skinned man said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. There was no hesitation from her. She rammed her fist into his face, running enough of a charge through him to heal any damage. Though she still sent him sprawling. The imps popped out of existence. “OW! Ok, I’m sensing a lot of hostility from you, so if you’ll just give me a chance to explain, I’m sure we can work this out without any more violence.” Markus said, inching backwards with his hands raised.  
Ashe couldn’t believe it. He’d been gone for so long, let them think he was dead for so long, and expected them to just accept him like nothing had happened. She was almost shaking from rage.

“No. I don’t want to hear it.” Ashe said, her fists clenched so tight her knuckles were pale.  
Markus tilted his head, “Really? I thought you’d want to know why I left.”  
“The reason you left doesn’t matter anymore, it stopped mattering a long time ago.”  
“OK, so I left, but I’m back now! So why are you so mad?” Markus asked, standing up.  
“We thought you were dead! We mourned you!” She said, stepping back and turning away. “There’s a statue in Bigcity dedicated to you!”  
“Oh, yeah. I saw that. They didn’t even get my nose right…” Markus said, moving closer to Ashe. “Believe me, leaving you and Thog, leaving everyone, was the hardest decision I ever had to make. But I did it to keep you all safe.”  
  
“You were the one who always told me not to try and bare everything on my own. So how could you do something like this? Were those just pretty words, for a lonely girl? Did you ever mean any of it?” Ashe asked, tears beginning to trace tracks down her face. “Ten years, Markus. Ten godsdamn years we’ve mourned you. And you couldn’t even send one note. One fucking note.”  
Markus was clearly shaken by her reaction, “Ashe, please… please listen. I… I wanted to tell everyone, especially you and Thog, but if I did that, you would have insisted on coming with me. And…”  


“And what? It would have spoiled your image as the ‘Noble Hero’? Fighting valiantly on his own, to protect his loved ones? Bullshit!” Ashe whirled to face him, “For gods’ sakes, Markus, we could have helped you! Whatever you were doing, it might not have taken so long, if you had just let us… if you had just let us be a part of your life, like we let you be a part of ours.”  
“Aesling, please... I- I left because if I had stayed, the chance of everyone I love dying would have been too great. The claim on my soul was too strong for anyone to break head on. Not you, not Gregor, hell, not even Colvin and Narn could have done it!” Markus said, reaching out for her hand, “I needed to be absolutely sure that I wouldn’t put anyone in danger before I came back.”  
“And did you even think about how we’d feel, Markus? Losing you like that? How we would have to cope?” Ashe snapped back, pulling her hand away, “Or did you just think you would be able to show up one day, snap your fingers, and that everything would go back to normal?”  
  
“Because it doesn’t work like that. It’s never worked like that.” She said, bitterly, “You can’t erase everything we been through, just because you don’t want to deal with it!”  
“I did it because I love you and Thog! So what if I left! I’m here, right now, and I want-” Markus said, reaching for her hand once more.

She punched him in the face again, harder, and didn’t run a charge through him this time. “Don’t you dare. Don’t you fucking dare pull the ‘I do this because I love you’ card! I heard that enough from my father!” She turned away, “I can’t listen to you try and justify it anymore. Just stay away from the life we built without you. Please. For everyone’s sake, just go, and never come back.” Ashe began to walk away. She pulled the cloak from her shoulders and tossed it at his feet. “If you like my cloak, you can keep it. I won’t be needing it anymore.”

_ End of Chapter 2 _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JUST TO REITERATE: SORRY


	3. Walk upon this world like it’s ice that’s eggshell-thin

Thog hummed as he moved around the kitchen, making breakfast. Vale sat at the table, legs dangling from her chair. She looked like she was still fighting sleep. He smiled at his daughter. “Hey, kiddo, you sure you’re actually awake?”

“Hmm? ‘Course ‘m awake…” she yawned “I wanna be up when Mommy gets back from her walk…”

“Could be a while, though.” Thog said, as he placed a plate of food in front of Vale. “You really don’t want to sleep?”

She scowled at him, and he was once again reminded of her resemblance to Ashe. “I’m seven now… ‘m not some baby anymore.”

“Yeah… But you’re still my little Vale,” Thog said, stepping behind his daughter’s chair, and tickling her sides.

“Daaaaaaaaaaaad! S-stop, ple-” Vale could barely manage to get the words out, she was laughing too hard. Thog relented, smiling.

“Um, Dad… Why does Mommy keep visiting ‘Markus’s Memorial’?” Vale asked, pronouncing the last to words with care, poking the eggs on her plate with a fork.

Thog sighed. He had known this would come up eventually, and he and Ashe had talked about what they were going to say. His hand absentmindedly went to the gold band that adorned his left ear, made from the ring he had never gotten to give Markus. “Well, Vale, you know what Charoth’s job is, right?” he asked, taking a seat beside his daughter.

“He, uh, helps the spirits here ‘find peace’… and move on, I think.” Vale said, thoughtfully. “He keeps everything in balance…”

“Yep. Well, when people that aren’t spirits move on, they don’t usually come back. And everyone they leave behind needs to find peace in their own way.” Thog explained, placing his calloused palm over his daughter’s hand. “It can take time, but that’s all part of the natural cycle.”

“And talking to that rock helps Mommy?” Vale asked quizzically, “Even though Markus is gone?”

“Mm hmm.” Thog nodded. “It’s the same with your uncle Gregor. He left to follow a path that he thinks would make Markus proud, and I can’t fault him for doing that.”

“But, is it ok to miss someone if they’re not gone forever?” she said, her free hand fidgeting with a necklace of woven red cloth. “Like Aunt Firi, Uncle Colvin, and Narn? Even though they visit sometimes, I feel sad when they go…”

Thog let out a low chuckle. “Vale, that’s perfectly normal. Missing people who aren’t there just shows you care.”

She bit her lip, “Do… Do you think Gregor will be back for Sparkle Day this year? I wanna show him how well our garden’s doing…”

“I… I don’t know, sweetie. I wish I could say he will, but…” Thog sighed, “Let’s just say he might need a bit more time to find his own ‘rock’.”

“Ok…” Vale look a little let down by his statement, “But once he does, he’ll come back, right?”

“Yeah. He will. I’m sure of it.” Thog smiled, “Now, eat your eggs. They’re gonna get cold. And remember to eat some fruit.”

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the front hall. The door slammed open, and a familiar voice called out: “HEY! YOU GUYS AWAKE YE-”

A second door slammed, and Thog’s ears picked up the sound of a knife being flicked open, accompanied by a flash of Menace.  
“I’msorryIdidn’tmeantowakeyou!” Kyr’s voice was pitched up slightly in surprise, “I’llbequietnextime!” 

Thog began massaging the bridge of his nose, and stood up, “Batty, we agreed no murder in the foyer! At least, no murdering friends in the foyer.”

_ End of Chapter 3 _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh.  
> No especially sad moments this time.  
> I guess that means the worst is over.
> 
> Right?
> 
> RIGHT?!?


End file.
